Facts about the Skin Trade

Pythons are traded for food, traditional Chinese medicine, and their skins for luxury fashion.

Most species of pythons are regulated under Cites Appendix II which means that a legal trade needs import and export licences and quotas. However, lack of monitoring and enforcement at customs means illegal skins can go undetected.

Most pythons are captured from the wild, and vast numbers are traded illegally.

The black market trade may soon equal or even overtake legally-controlled operations.

Penalties for smugglers are lenient and do not successfully deter re-offenders.

Cruelty at slaughter is a huge concern ' “ some receive a blow to the head with a hammer or mallet, some are decapitated, whilst many are filled with air or water and hung from hooks before being skinned alive.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the main source of pythons for the skin trade.

Vietnam and the Lao People' s Democratic Republic have also become more prominent recently.

The EU has banned skins sourced from Malaysia.

Swiss Parliament voted to ban python skin imports from Indonesia in 2012 based on cruelty.

The European fashion industry accounts for 96% of the python skin market, the main importers being Italy, France and Spain.

Leading manufacturers and retailers of python skins are designer brands Hermes, Gucci and Prada.

Most python skins are initially exported to Singapore, and from there they are then re-exported ' “ this provides an avenue for illegally sourced skins to be easily mixed with legal skins.

A report entitled "The Trade in South-East Asian Python Skins" released in 2012 by the International Trade Centre raises concerns over many aspects of the snake skin trade, particularly the high levels of illegal trading as well as concerns over the welfare and conservation of the species involved. Click here to read their full report which was backed by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).WARNING: REPORT CONTAINS SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES.

If you would like to learn more, the grisly truth behind fashions reptile skin trade is available in this documentary ('The Medan Connection') and can be viewed here - WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC FOOTAGE.